The Journey: Taekwondo Life

It's me again, Brian Joseph Dizon. BJ for short. I'd like to tell you guys how i love this sports called Taekwondo. When did i start? How was the first time? Is it really  can protect you? Self-defense nga ba talaga o kailangan lang sa yabang? So many questions before I enter this martial arts thing. At first, of course, another scary moment... Number one, di naman ako mahilig sa away. Taekwondo is full contact sports so i'd rather be prepared for some action. When i saw them training as in some of them are crying in pain. Their trainer is forcing them to split for them to be able to kick higher. I was scared with that. But then i really love martial arts. Kung fu is one of my favorites. Nakakatuwa nga eh, i remembered before, everytime makakapanood ako ng movie na kung fu. I'm always  amazed. The flying kicks, walking on air, jumping so high, walking on the water. Incredible! I also dreamed of becoming a ninja. Hahaha! This is how my Taekwondo story started. It all sparked from a child's little dream...

I was already in 2nd year high school when i entered the world of Taekwondo. Actually, napariwara ako nun. Medyo nag lay low ako sa swimming. I smoked, was drunkard and even cut classes. Grabe talaga! But when my cousin encouraged me to join their team, at first, i refused because for me mas masarap kayang uminom at mag gala kesa sa magtraining. Then few weeks passed, lagi ko nakikita cousin ko na sipa ng sipa and he was enjoying it. And i saw some of his moves na talagang napa nganga ako and craved for some more. That is the time na nakisali sali ako sa ginagawa nya and he never had second thoughts to teach me some basic kicks. He also made a customized kicking bag made of an old sack of rice with sand for us to do self training. I really appreciated what he did. It was school days again, i' was thinking of what to do after class, and then suddenly Taekwondo just popped out of my head and i remembered that my cousin had their trainings everyday after class so i ran going to their gym and watched them train. I really enjoyed watching them. Di pa ako sumali nun kasi nahihiya ako. Hahaha!

From that moment, I watched them again and again. I also watched them compete on their first competition. I was shocked when i saw how my cousin suffered from his bleeding groin. It came to a point na parang ayaw ko na sumali. Haha! But my cousin never let me lose hope he always encouraged me to join and also told me that it is fun to be with his team mates. In fairness nadala ako sa mga pinagsasasabi ng cousin ko kaya hayun, napasabak din ako sa first training. I was surprised that i can kick na pala the proper way because my cousin taught me the basics. I even had a sparring on my first day. Nakakatakot pero i did it. The first training was fun and i really enjoyed it but when we got home, i was dead tired and never had a chance to eat dinner and my whole body was aching. The next morning, i can't even get up from the bed to prepare for school because of body pain. Na late na nga ako sa school eh. A week passed, nagtuluy-tuloy ang training ko sa Taekwondo and then parang hinahanap hanap na ng katawan ko ang sakit every after the training.

First competition. That was our school intramurals. I was so scared coz i only had a week training. Tapos bihasa na makakalaban ko. Selection pa man din yun for the city meet and regional competition. I was so nervous and shocked when i knew that my opponent is one of the senior member of the team. "Oh my" was the only words that came out of my mouth when one of the officials announced the next fight, and that was me and the senior member. The referee is already on his position and I was just waiting for him to call us in the center of the ring. The moment came, the referee called us and my heart beats faster and then he announced to start the fight. My opponent landed a first kick on my tummy and it hurt me really bad but i never showed it to the referee, baka kasi tawagan ako ng warning at ihinto ang laban. He scored 1 point for that. But then i continued the fight. After 1 minute and 50 seconds, the 10 seconds left i landed an out-in kick on his face and made me scored two points and declared me to be the winner of that match. I was so happy and really can't believe what had happened. I became one of the best players on that day of the competition.

Next is about the Provicial Meet. First day of training, puro nalang stamina. Nakakasawa na kung minsan. Same routine. Kabisado ko na nga lahat eh. Pray, stretch, jog, warm up, kickings, foot works, etc. . . Same...same....same.... Wala na bang bago? That's when i decided to have aquatic training. Every after my Taekwondo training, i'll go to a nearest resort and have some laps for 2-3 hours. After that, uwi, tulog. Wala ng kain kain. Haha! That's how we trained before. I didn't noticed that i already have the discipline needed for a "jin" (taekwondo player). The day of the provincial meet came, and i'm so relax because our team doesn't have competitors meaning to say, wala kaming gagawin kundi tumulong sa match ng elementary level. Sad to say, walang regional meet na naganap so, back to normanl after provincial meet. Kalungkot. Back to school, same routine, training after school, go home, wake up early, prepare for school, study, trainong, etc...

 

Will just continue my Taekwondo journey in my next blog. I'll tell you how my training was in preparation for the provincial meet. Check it on my next blog.

Thanks for reading. Please follow this blog. God bless.